Credit crunch affects student loans

Driven by the credit crunch, big banks are cutting back student loan programs, nixing cash access for students at community colleges and small four-year colleges deemed "less competitive."

The mortgage industry crisis, says Robert Shireman of the Project on Student
Debt, has affected college lending as well, even though most college loans are
federally guaranteed. "The problems in the mortgage industry caused a virus of
sorts, which upset the way that a lot of different types of loans were financed,
even these very secure loans that are essentially co-signed by the federal
government," he said.